July 31, 2012

Tommy Joseph "Estactic" to Join the Phillies as He Switches Clubhouses in Richmond to Join Reading

Phillies new catching prospect just joined Jim Bowden and Casey Stern on Sirius XM MLB Network Radio and offered his excitedment and a few details. It appears that Joseph will join the Reading Phillies first, and he is excited to be on the team.

Ramon Ortiz threw to Joseph in the ninth inning of Wednesday's game against Colorado and had his own "wow" moment when he learned that Joseph was 20 and fewer than four years removed from being a high school first baseman.

Drafted out of high school, he was once considered a work in progress as a catcher. But his bat caught their eye from the start.

The lure for scouts was Joseph's bat. He hit .494 with 15 homers as a high school senior in a region and state with stiff competition. He then hit 16 homers at low Class A Augusta, Ga., in 2010 and 22 for high-A San Jose

Carlos Ruiz is a free agent after 2013. Joseph probably ranks higher than Valle as a catcher, but it remains to see where this will go. Either way, he sounds like a nice pickup.